Boggy Branch Massacre

The Boggy Branch Massacre (28 January 1818) was a minor battle of the First Seminole War. A force of 540 United States regular infantry and pioneer militia under the command of Captain Thomas Branch that were dispatched to clear present-day Clay County, Florida were ambushed by an army of 1,476 Seminole warriors along the Boggy Branch stream, and the Seminoles killed 502 of their enemies with 170 losses.

Battle
Captain Thomas Branch and a section of 540 American regular infantry and pioneer militia from the state of Georgia dispatched by General Andrew Jackson to clear present-day Clay County in Florida of the Seminoles, who were raiding the United States from Spanish Florida. The Seminole chief Screaming Bird and a war band of 891 Cherokee, 450 Muskogee, and 135 Creek warriors (including Creek horse riders, Cherokee musketmen and artillery, and Muskogee bowmen), who settled along the Boggy Branch stream, ambushed the American force in woodland not far from the stream, gaining the advantage of surprise.

The Muskogee bowmen moved into position a few yards in front of the American line infantry, as the range of the bow was considerably shorter than that of a musket. The Seminole musketeers to the right hurried to join the fray in a wheeling attack, and the Creek musket-wielding horse riders charged the American troops. The Seminole cavalrymen fired their muskets before drawing tomahawks for melee, and they hacked down several American troops. The American forces were weakened when Captain Branch was killed by the bodyguards of Screaming Bird, and the Seminoles pursued the Americans, who fled. The Seminoles suffered heavy losses from friendly musket fire, but they killed 502 of the American line infantry troops before the Americans escaped. 170 Seminoles were lost.